Oregon Country

EVERY SUMMER I like to feature at least one post of photos from an Oregon outing. This year there haven't been very many outings, I'm afraid. But yesterday my hubby Steve, one of my daughters and I took at short drive to McDonald Forest. How lucky are we to have nature within 5 minutes of our front door? 

Our first stop was this newly discovered (to us anyway) lake. The Queen Ann's Lace had just started blooming and juxtaposed with the spiky, tawny native grasses, it was a spectacular sight. 

I don't know the species of this pine but it looked really nice perched in this field.

I know, I know... it's a weed. But it's pretty.

My daughter getting photos too. 

Of course, there was a gander of geese floating on the lake. 

On the creepy side, we found this abandoned snake skin.

I'm just glad it was abandoned. Not a fan of snakes, it was bigger than I like to see. 

A much more pleasant critter was the sweet Painted Lady Butterfly.
We saw her at our next destination.

I went a little nuts taking photos. 

She sure liked the nectar on this Teasel flower. She stayed there a long time. 

Interesting how the flowers circle around the cone. 

 Our second destination was Soap Creek, nestled on the west side of McDonald Forest.

Here is Steve headed over the bridge. We discovered that this trail goes up into the forest
rather than down to the creek so we turned around.
But first I had to get a few photos. 

Look at the wild ginger and False Solomon's Seal. People pay money for these gems
and here they are growing contentedly in their natural habitat.
I love that.

There were several fat stems of Veratrum. 

And a carpet of leafy Vancouveria 

Finally we got to our oasis. Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present, Soap Creek.

Yes it was a beautiful. 

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I told Steve this would have been a really fun place to come when our kids were little. It's out of the way, shaded the water is clean and shallow. 

There were a few more horticultural gems worth sharing. 

There was a lot of this plant growing alone the creek's shores.
I believe it's Diphylleia cymosa. The leaves were huge. 

 And this sweet gem was all over. It's pink!

I identified it as Stachys cooleyae. 

Have you been on any photo-worthy outings this summer?

I hope you enjoyed a slice of God's garden. Next week, I'll be back to my little slice of paradise.